oatmeal raisin cookies plus protein

I bought this stuff at the store the other day and have been wanting to experiment with adding it to baked goods. Being the lazy vegetarian I am and Sophie being the picky eater she is, neither of us tend to get enough protein on a regular basis. I know that Sophie's mood and self-regulation fares much better when she's eating enough protein (and I'm sure it's true for me as well) - so in the spirit of Deceptively Delicious I thought I would try some sneaky protein additions.

Today I went with cookies. I started with the Oatmeal Raisin Cookies recipe from Deceptively Delicious and went from there....

The original recipe calls for zucchini puree and banana puree. I didn't have either but I did have a zucchini in the fridge and an over-ripe banana on the counter! I put the zucchini in the food processor and called it good (I didn't cook it first, not even a little), then mashed the banana in with everything else.

I wanted to make the cookies vegan (just for fun really) so I substituted ground flax seed with water for the egg white called for. This is really easier than you think - just whisk the flax in with water, microwave, whisk, and microwave again until you get something that looks like this:

Ok, I know it's hard to see in that picture, but basically you want it to gel up enough that it hangs off the whisk for a second before dropping - kind of like an egg white - which is, after all, what we're going for here.

I added six tablespoons of the protein powder along with the dry ingredients, which according to my (very rough) calculations only added a measly 2g of protein to each finished cookie. Humph. At least the oat flour has a good bit of protein in it too. I think this addition made the cookies a little dry, so next time I'll probably add something else with the wet ingredients to balance it. Maybe applesauce. Or not, who knows.

The finished dough looked like this:

And the finished cookies, well, they look a little weird. They didn't flatten in the oven, so I squished them down with a spatula half way through. I think this is the too-dry issue caused by the added protein powder. But they taste good, and Sophie keeps asking for more - success!

Alright, here's what I did:

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies - adapted from Deceptively Delicious

6 tablespoons Earth Balance margarine

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 zucchini, ground in food processor

1 banana, mashed

1 tablespoon ground flax seed

1/4 cup water

1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1/2 cup whole oat flour

1 cup rolled oats

6 tablespoons soy protein powder (optional)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup golden raisins

Preheat oven to 350F. Beat the margarine and sugar in a large bowl. Add zucchini and banana; mix (and mash at the same time if you're lazy like me). In a small bowl, whisk together the flax and water. Microwave for 30 seconds at a time, whisking in between, until the mixture gels. Add to ingredients in large bowl and mix well.

In another bowl, mix together flours, protein powder, oats, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Add to wet ingredients and mix gently. Add raisins.

Drop by heaping spoonfuls onto a baking sheet and bake in preheated oven for 12-15 min.

Enjoy!